UPDATE SUNDAY PM: After another session of talks today, Cablevision and Fox once again failed to make any “material progress” and remain far apart, according to a statement from Fox. Negotiations are scheduled to continue tomorrow. Meanwhile, the two sides continued their PR war with dueling statements. Cablevision once again pleaded for attention from Washington and pushed for binding arbitration: “The longer this shameful News Corp. blackout of the NFL and Major League Baseball continues, the more obvious it becomes to everyone, including political leaders of both parties, that binding arbitration is the fastest and fairest way to return Fox programming to Cablevision customers,” the company said. Fox released an open letter to Cablevision subscribers from Lew Leone, GM of the two Fox stations affected by the blackout. Here is a portion of it:

We offered Cablevision the exact same price that other companies are paying for our stations. But for some reason, Cablevision thinks that it deserves special treatment.

Instead of negotiating like a responsible business, Cablevision decided to make this your problem in the hope that if they caused you, the viewer, enough inconvenience, then politicians would intervene. That is what Cablevision’s call for “arbitration” is all about. But ask yourself – do you think Cablevision would be ok with someone else stepping in to decide the price you pay them for cable and broadband service?

And the Cablevision family certainly doesn’t allow arbitrators to set the rates for their cable channels like MSG and AMC. In fact, just a few weeks ago, MSG and MSG Plus went off the dial for millions of DISH Network subscribers – and MSG did not ask for arbitration.

Cablevision has called us greedy. It’s an interesting charge, given the fact that the price we’ve offered Cablevision for FOX5 and My9 is more than 70% lower than what the Cablevision family charges other cable operators for MSG and MSG Plus.

Frankly, it is hard to believe a company like Cablevision is accusing anyone else of greed. Cablevision customers pay an average of $149 per month including up to $18 for broadcast stations – and that earned them an average profit of over $795 per subscriber last year. Yet, they have only offered to pay less than a penny a day for FOX5 and My9.

UPDATE SATURDAY 4PM: Cablevision subscribers won’t be able to watch today’s Phillies-Giants game, which stars in an hour on Fox. Following the blackout of Fox’s programming on Cablevision systems at midnight ET last night, the two companies today held talks on a new carriage agreement that would restore the signal of Fox stations Fox 5 and My9 to some 3 million Cablevision customers in the New York area, but “no material progress was made and the companies remain far apart,” a source said. Both sides agreed to continue talking tomorrow when Fox carries NFL football. “It is shameful for News Corp. to use Major League Baseball and NFL games to hold viewers hostage in order to extract tens of millions from Cablevision customers,” Cablevision just said in a statement, asking News Corp. to agree to binding arbitration, something the company has rejected, and return the Fox programming on Cablevision. Since the blackout, here have been a slew of statements from officials urging Fox and Cablevision to reach a deal or keep the Fox signal on while negotiating. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said he was “disappointed” by the service interruption. Sen. John Kerry, who vowed to get the FCC involved if the Fox-Time Warner dispute at the end of last year escalated to a blackout, today promised a “systemic reform” of the retransmission rules system to prevent such blackouts. Meanwhile, there have been numerous complaints from Cablevision customers and advocacy groups that Cablevision broadband subscribers’ Internet access to Fox programming on Hulu and Fox.com has also been blocked by the network.

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PREVIOUS FRIDAY 9PM: Another week, so another network is getting dropped in a nasty carriage dispute. But this one also affects the baseball playoffs. News Corp is already grappling with the loss of carriage of FX, National Geographic Channel, and 19 regional sports network on Dish starting two weeks ago. Now the company’s broadcast network Fox is off Cablevision after the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a new deal. Cablevision at midnight ET stopped carrying the local Fox

stations Fox 5 and My9 as well as Nat Geo Wild and Fox Business Network. That also puts in jeopardy the upcoming baseball playoff games and the World Series on Fox for 3 million Cablevision customers in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. The ALCS series between the Yankees and the Rangers runs on TBS this year. Still, it is the final stage of the playoffs, and the blackout comes only hours before the Saturday night Game 1 of MLB’s National League championship series between the Giants and the Phillies on Fox.

Fox has been aggressive in pursuing retransmission consent fees for its stations, which led to a standoff with Time Warner Cable at the end of last year. According to Mike Hopkins, president of Fox Networks Affiliate Sales, Cablevision pulled out of the negotiations at 8pm today declaring “impasse.” In its statement, Fox quoted a SNL Kagan report that “in 2009 Cablevision paid itself and charged other pay-TV companies considerably more for just two of its channels (MSG and MSG Plus) than it paid Fox for 12 of its channels.”

According to Cablevision, the company “already pays News Corp. more than $70 million a year for its channels, and News Corp. is demanding more than $150 million a year for the same exact programming.” Cablevision claims that it offered News Corp. “as much or more for Fox 5 as it pays for NBC, ABC, CBS and Univision stations in the market” but “News Corp. is continuing to demand more for Fox 5 than Cablevision pays all of the other broadcast stations combined.” Here is more from the two companies’ statements:

For the third time in less than a year, Cablevision has caused a television service disruption in the New York and Philadelphia areas by demanding preferential terms and allowing its agreements to carry WNYW FOX5, WWOR My9, WTXF FOX29, FOX Deportes, FOX Business Network, and Nat Geo WILD to expire. Beginning on Saturday, October 16, Cablevision subscribers will lose FOX5, My9 and FOX29, home of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series and the World Series, the NFL on FOX, American Idol, Glee, House,The Simpsons, Family Guy, the local news and other prominent programming.

“In an effort to avoid this very situation, we started this process in May and made numerous reasonable proposals to Cablevision,” said Mike Hopkins, President, Fox Networks Affiliate Sales and Marketing. “However, we remain far apart and Cablevision has made it clear that they do not share our view regarding the value of Fox’s networks. We remain willing to negotiate and hope that future talks ultimately will be productive, but as of now Cablevision has declined to counter our most recent proposal. Regrettably, their efforts were focused more on calls for government intervention than constructive negotiations.”

Cablevision spent most of Friday refusing to engage in constructive bargaining – instead issuing statements calling for the FCC and others to mandate binding arbitration. Fox rejected those demands saying that Cablevision needed to stop hiding behind a call for government intervention and negotiate in good faith. Fox stated that direct business-to-business negotiation is the only way to resolve the issue, and noted that Cablevision is being hypocritical by claiming that Fox’s proposals are not fair.

News Corp.’s decision to remove Fox programming from three million Cablevision households is a black eye for broadcast television in America. News Corp has refused to negotiate in good faith and rejected calls from dozens of political leaders to not pull the plug and join Cablevision in binding arbitration. We demand that News Corp. put the viewers ahead of its own greed and immediately restore these channels to our customers and agree to binding arbitration to reach a fair agreement.

News Corp.’s pattern of destructive tactics has become clear. First, they terrorized Time Warner Cable customers for weeks; then they pulled regional sports and cable channels off Dish Network; and now they have pulled the plug on Fox 5 and My9 for 3 million Cablevision households. Further, they are now threatening to pull their broadcast stations away from Dish Network’s 14 million customers in two weeks. It is clear that News Corp. will pull the plug on any viewer, served by any cable, satellite or phone company, to get the money they want.

On Friday, News Corp. even flatly rejected the FCC’s call for independent mediation. More than 100 political leaders called upon Cablevision and News Corp. to keep the channels on while they continued to negotiate, and 36 elected officials called upon Cablevision and News Corp. to submit to binding arbitration, to ensure no disruption of programming for customers. Cablevision agreed, but News Corp. rejected this fair approach.

97 Comments

I definitely agree with you they are so greedy, why not keep the signal until they agree on an agreement!!!!

PD • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Major league baseball pays FOX a great deal of cash to carry post season baseball. Without the NY market of cablevsion getting post season baseball, why should MLB be on Fox in the future? The NFL also broadcasts on FOX. Why bite the hands that feeds you? FOX is missing the big picture.

MLB doesn’t pay FOX to carry the postseason, FOX pays MLB… and it’s big money (in the billions). FOX also pays billions to the NFL. Sure they receive advertising dollars but with the economy the way it is, the advertisers are paying a lot less than they used to. The only way for FOX to recoup any of the monies they pay to sports leagues is to rely on cable subscriber fees.

Before you go lambasting FOX for being irresponsible in asking for such fees, check into the contracts some of your recent sports heroes have signed and there you go. A guy signs a deal for $25 million a year – that money has to come from somewhere. The team gets it from the league, the league gets it from FOX and FOX gets it from your cable company.

DirecTV pays rights fees to FOX same as any cable operator does. FOX owns a large part of the company that owns DirecTV, so not sure what your point is there.

Anonymous • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Big John. Do you work for fox?

Fox pays MLB and the NFL and then holds the fans hostage as bargaining chips to seek greater revenue. They do this the day before the MLB playoffs and 2 days before sunday football. The cabler company takes our money and then uses their customers as their lobbyists by automatically programming our cable boxes to a propaganda message every time we turn on the TV. I just pulled out the old rabbit ears, attached it to the TV and watched FOX. I think FOX needs to decide if they are a free, advertisement driven network or a cable company. Cablevision is no better. Both are at fault for not providing the services to the customers that pay every month for services and then when some of these customers want to actually use an expected service, it disappears.

Anonymous • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

What are you talking about?!! Cablevision has been more than reasonable to news corp, offering to pay more for fox than all other news stations combined, and agreeing to go for binding arbitration! Its news corp that puled the channels, not cablevision. It is news corp that is definitely at fault!!

That’s a good idea about separating the two and having one entity as a broadcast network and one as a cable enterprise. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime soon and the reason why is because the #1 cable enterprise out there is also tied to a network tv component – ESPN & ABC. NBC also does it to a lesser extent with other Universal brands like BRAVO and SyFy.

The point of my comments in this part of the thread is that in the case of FOX, sports league contracts drive the demand for the channel as well as inflate the amount they must seek from cable operators.

Anonymous • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I got your point big John. But FOX chooses to deprive the viewer of their premier events. Ultimitely, we foot the bill. The Taylor law is in place in the public sector to protect the public from actions like this. Of course in the case of the Tayllor Law, the consequences are much more severe than missing a few games. But the intent of FOX is as malicious. Deprive the customer so you can earn more money. If they can’t support the services they bid for, then downsize, be bougt out, restructure. Let someone else bid for the services. If the customer won’t pay then we don’t see the event. But we will know up front that we will not see the event. If professional sports can’t market their product then they go on strike and iron out the contract. If someone else like TBS wants to foot the bill then let them. But provide the service you commit to with the client and deliver that service to the clients audience or let the client scramble to find another way to deliver the product. I understand that fox has the right to prevent cable vision customers from watching GLEE, etc., but we all know that FOX dedicated programs are small change.

There are a couple holes in your argument though:
1) FOX does not sell service directly to the consumer.

2) With regards to their over-the-air utility of the public airwaves, you are free to use an antenna to acquire the signal at no cost.

3) Unless you live in an obstructed apartment building, you do have the choice of going to satellite. Unfortunately, since Cablevision has their tri-state monopoly going strong, you may not have an opportunity to get AT&T U-Verse or Verizon FIOS.

I live in California. If our water supply runs out, additional water will be available at a higher cost if my local water utility chooses to pay it (they will and pass the increase on to me). If they choose not to pay, we’ll all go thirsty. It’s the same deal with Cablevision and FOX.

Thomas F. Kiley Jr • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

to deney the people of the Usa the use of a FREE channels is nothing but GREED. And [we] I will not stand for it.there are other places that carry channel 5& 9 we can DUMP the culperts.

TNSTAAFL • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

What a colossal sense of entitlement. Those “free” channels are “free” over the air. Get an antenna and you can have them without paying a cable company. But if you want to use the cable company’s facility, then you are not entitled to it without paying for it.

What’re you going to whine about next? Free cars?? Free houses (oh I forgot there is some of that already). What a bunch of egotistical self entitled this society is becoming. Free, my ass. TNSTAAFL.

Robert Not So Wise • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Get an antenna, you dolt, if you want it for free. If you want the MSO to bring it into your house, you need to pay for the privilege/ Not happy? Dump your MSO. Get DirecTV or DISH.

mike • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I am just about getting fed up with cablevision…they never get a deal done. When the Yankees switched to YES it several months to strike a deal in which I switched to Direct TV and have been extremely happy. Cablevision lost 1000’s of customers then and will in the next couple of days due to the massive number of Yankee, Giant, and Philadelphia fans

Anonymous • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

cablevision is getting a cocktail through there window in morning

Queen • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I’ve read this comment. This is exactly what Time Warner and DirectTV wants. They are hoping that because of the black out which they appear to do a lot lately – that Cabelvisions customers will migrate over to Verison Fios or DIRECT TV with the dishes attached to your houses.

It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. It’s just a damn shame that they were awarded the contract for the sports events and then use the black out to either try and obtain money from Cablevision or have Cablevisions customers migrage to another company in order to view the games. This shit never occurred until they were awarded the contract to host the spots events. I’ve been a cablevision customer since 1987 and the only time I was blacked out from sports on fox or the Timewarner channels was the past two years.

I feel that if financial gain and/or incrasing the customer base for Timewarner was the reason to seek the sports contract, then the FCC and the individual who awarded the sports contract to Timewarner should reconsider giving Timewarner future contracts.

BOOOORIIIING • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Doesn’t this happen at like, the expiration of EVERY carriage deal nowadays? Not surprising. They’ll reinstate the networks by the end of the weekend.

Rszanto • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

It’s like a corporate version of “Rashomon.”

Billy_el_Magnifeco • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Once you go black…

Rose • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I’m a Cablevision customer and I say good riddance to Fox. We can’t afford to have our bills go up and up and up without end. Enough is enough.

At a certain point, the cable bill gets too high and it’s just not worth it anymore. These people have all lost sight of reality.

BabyJesus • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

another reason why you can’t beat direc tv! Time warner, adelphia and comcast are becoming archaic just like the vcr

Jimmy • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

While I too am a DirecTV subscriber, and fine with my $80 bill, this will eventually effect them, as well. Networks are desperately looking for ways to open new revenue streams and no one will be left unscathed in the end.

Shay • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

agreed!!!! I live in CT and have nothing to worry about. Direc TV is the way to go.

B- • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

My cable bill through Cablevision is ridiculous. With the cable and internet it is almost $160 a month!

When the issue was with ABC I had more cause for concern as I watch more ABC programming. But FOX, screw them. I don’t want my bill to get higher. As much as I dislike Cablevision, they are the only game in town. My building doesn’t allow satellite cable as it would ruin the facade of the building. So I have to deal with it.

Either way, woke up to no Fox. Guess I’ll watch “Raising Hope” online. Just hope it’s resolved before the World Series… Thank GOD the Yankees are playing on TBS.

Esq • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Just an fyi regarding your building not allowing you to install a satellite dish on your building: under the Telecomunnications Act of 1996, the building owners cannot prevent you from installing a satellite dish (provided it is of certain dimensions) on your building unless it is a historic or prehistoric building, or unless there are legitimate safety reasons for the rule. You don’t state whether your building qualifies as a historic building or not, but just wanted to pass that along in case you weren’t aware…

Dmoney • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Just an FYI regarding your FYI: The owner of an apartment complex cannot restrict you from installing any “Direct Broadcast Satellite” on a part of your apartment that is exclusively “yours” (a balcony, patio, etc…), however they CAN restrict the installation of satellite dishes and antennas on “shared” space (roof, hallways, exterior walls).

Sonata • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Amazing that when I called Cablevision today they couldn’t tell me what I pay for the Fox 5 and other channels that I no longer can see. I asked what plans Cablevision had to refund me for the lost time that I can’t watch these channels – surprise!!! the person I talked to didn’t have any information about that..I HATE Cablevision, but did have DirecTV and that sucks too – a little wind and bam! the picture freezes and you get the “searching for satellite” scroll…..how convenient for these two groups that it happens just in time for the MLB playoffs…..

gphvid • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Fox and the other networks need to finally realize that binding arbitration is the way to go. Fox flatly turns it down whereas Cablevision and others support it. This clearly shows how arrogant Fox is in their carriage agreement negotiations. If one just reads Fox’s release, one can see it as plain as day. Get with it, Fox. Your channels are just not worth 50%+ more than they were last year.

working actor #274 • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Hey, Fox, thanks for forcing me to do a little research in order to find your shows for free online.

how stupid are you… they still get the advertising dollars online . ..

P Collins • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

wow.. you are pretty slow aren’t you.

working actor #274 • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

You’re a genius. I watched it with no commercials.

First time using the internet?

carthy • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Fuck Rupert Murdoch.

SisterM • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

You did?? Slut!

J.A. • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

As a DISH network subscriber, when I lost FX, and FOX Sports Net, I thought this might have been because of DISH but since its happening again with a different company, this gives merit to DISH network’s statement. I think this is just a ploy to get more people to sign up for Direct TV since I heard its owned by NewsCorp. I did seem a little weird to see that last week’s Fringe was “presented by DIrect TV”. I like DISH network so if FX doesn’t return, I’ll just fish for the shows online. Its NewsCorp’s money to lose not mine.

HelenofPeel • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I gave up cable years ago when the monthly price for basic service went over $70. It’s just not worth it to get multiple noisy channels with questionable viewing fare.

I’ve been on DSL ever since, and view the programs I am interested in when I want them.

And my living room is a lot quieter now too. That’s another added plus.

I hope they all eat each other.

Wik • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

You’re a dullard. Would you sit idly by if Cablevision wanted to raise your bill more than 50% w/o any additional programming?

b • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Web address for SOA would be cool as only season 2 is a available in Europe

Larry Page • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Ummm there is this little site called GOOGLE.COM, check it out, it’s fricking AWESOME.

Dr. R.P. • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I think that Fox is in fault for the situation. It seems that Fox is bullying/terrorizing more than one company. Fox should realize that we, The American people, are going through a recession. Many people are having a hard time paying bills. I guess that Fox will happy when they have Monopolize their channels. The big companies, like Fox, are worried that their fat wallets might go on a diet! They should stop Terrorizing Acts, Its not the American Way to do such things.

Terrorizing, really? I think that’s a gross misinterpretation of the situation here. It’s television – you’ll live if you miss out on one channel for a few weeks.

Malachite • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

I am a supervisor in a Cablevision call center–I say that with full disclosure so you know who you’re listening to.

Cablevision wants all of its customers to continue to have access to these channels, whether you believe us or not. Please take it from me–as someone who has to go to work on October 16th and have angry customers scream at me all day long that these channels are out. We want you to have these channels, and we want to keep providing them to you.

This is a question of money. Plain and simple, Cablevision feels its customer pay enough for their television services already. We recognize that the economy is bad, times are tough for many people. I speak to dozens of customers a week who tell me they can’t afford their service any longer. Believe me–Cablevision understands how important keeping costs down is. Regardless of this dispute, your rates will go up anyway–even if we were to leave these Fox channels dark permanently, there are still hundreds of channels Cablevision has to pay to continue to be provided with their signal. These rates go up every year. Usually, these negotiations are resolve simply and a fair agreement is reached to keep the impact to customers minimal. Channels stay on the air, and your bills usually only go up $3-$5 annually. Also, please take note that Cablevision has not raised the base price of its internet or phone services since 2003. While the value of the dollar has fallen significantly since then, we have kept those prices stable, as we provide those services on our own–we don’t have to purchase them from others.

If Cablevision agrees to this grotesque increase of more than 100% for this sweet of channels, your bills will increase more. And we know you don’t want that. Many of you can’t afford that. Cablevision feels you shouldn’t need to pay such an increase. So, we are on your side. That’s why we agreed to binding, third party arbitration in good faith when we couldn’t come to a fair agreement with Fox. But, as usual, Fox has walked away from the table, like a petulant child. They believe they’re too big and powerful to have to negotiate with a signal provider like Cablevision. You don’t have to take my word from it, you know from reading this article they’ve done the same thing to Dish Network and Time Warner.

I’m sorry you have to go through this. As an employee of the company , I completely understand that people don’t want to hear excuses, they don’t want to pick sides. They just want to turn on their TV and watch their channels. And as a customer, you have a right to expect that. Unfortunately, Fox thinks that they can use strongarm, Gestapo tactics to force us to do things their way–a way that benefits no one but Fox and penalizes their own viewers.

Lastly, if you’re a customer, I ask you to do just one thing about this situation. Please don’t call us about this issue. Rest assured, we know you’re upset, we know you want the channels back immediately. But trust me, as a supervisor, there’s nothing we can do to help you. We don’t make policy or decisions. I ask you not to call because our phone lines will be jammed beyond capacity, and every call for this issue that won’t change anything prevents someone who may have an urgent call, such as a major service problem or need to schedule a technician, from being able to get through. Please let those people get through and refrain from taking up a space in the call queue. If you truly feel the need to express your feelings to Cablevision on the matter, I would advise at least holding off on calling this weekend. You will doubtlessly be on hold for an extreme amount of time, competing with everyone else who is upset for the chance to talk to a representative. And honestly, there’s nothing further we can do besides to give you the information you can already get online or by watching the videos on the now dark channels.

Cablevision does hope to get the dispute resolved and restore the channels with an agreement that is fair to Fox, Cablevision, and most importantly, Cablevision customers.

john • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Im glad Cablevision has dropped FOX. 150 MILLION!I can find better content to view on the internet! If they do take the deal and my cable bill goes up, Im going to drop Cablevision.

I am glad that you admitted that you’re biased (even though you made some good points). Regardless, how do you explain the fact that Cabelvision supposedly pays more money for MSG and MSG Plus (obv controlled by Dolan) than for 12 fox channels? I think both companies are both being greedy.

Alex • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Same thing happed last year with ABC.

Im Pissed • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

These bastards are arguing about millions, i have to work 60 hours a week just to make a living. Put the motherfucking channels back on.

Mark Calabrese • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

All I can say is, These motherfuckers don’t know what work is! Try going to the Greenwich Town Hall and working 8 hours a day with bosses that don’t give a damn about anybody but themselves. That’s what cablevision and fox are! Selfish Bastards!

Flush Rush • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

The day “Fox goes black” is the day they lose the millions of angry disenfranchised whites that make up their Algonquin roundtable of viewers, who will then have no choice but to go back to attending monster truck rallies and Nascar events. That’s the price of freedom. -W

redmenace • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Someone completely miss the point, or my sarcasm radar is off.

nova • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Fox is so greedy. Yeah, they have some good programs but I’m willing to pass. Good for cablevision for not giving in at the cost of its customers.

Marko • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

The correct headline would have been:

CABLEVISION STRIKES BLOW FOR QUALITY PROGRAMMING, DUMPS FOX

Mary • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

There is too much greed out there. They don’t care about us anymore…just pocketing the big bucks. If this is true that Fox is demanding so much more money than other stations, then shame on them. May they lose everything.

willyboy • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Its all online folks. Cable and Sat is dead. Packaged content is a rip. Viva la a la carte!

If a la carte was a viable option it would’ve been around already. The reason why it doesn’t work is because if you like “Hellcats” and only want to pay for that, say $1 a month, that’s fine. Unfortunately I don’t like that show so I won’t pay $1 a month for it. If you only have 10,000 people that watch it in the first week, that’s not gonna be enough to keep it on the air and it’ll go away.

Free TV • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

To all of you who pay for cable or satellite…

It’s your money to spend any way you like, but remember that ALL network shows are available FREE, over the air. The picture quality is better too!

Wanna see the Phillies game? Easy!

Hook an antenna up to your TV. Enjoy!

Jimmy • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Actually for a large chunk of the country that lives in rural areas such as myself it’s not that easy. Since the switch to digital we can no longer get most of the channels we used to. It’s either satellite or nothing.

rich • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

iI THOUGHT FOX GOT THERE MONEY THRU ADVERTISEING I CAN GET FOX FREE WIT A ANTENNA??? Y DO WE HAVE TO PAY AT ALL??

Guardian61 • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Off air channels have always been free. You just have to have an off air antenna run to your tv. You need to be near the broadcast towers to receive signal. The further you are away from the towers the bigger antenna you will need. I have been selling antennas for about 15yrs…they work great, especially now that the signals are digital. For more info go to antennaweb.org

david carlo • on Oct 16, 2010 4:00 pm

Apparently u r the dumb one. Do you have any idea how tv broadcast ad rates/revenue still dwarf what the networks can generate in online revenue?